


The Bargain

by the_elbow



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Depressing, F/M, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Not Happy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-07-06 17:16:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15890493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_elbow/pseuds/the_elbow
Summary: Rey and the new Supreme Leader Hux come to an agreement. She hopes to save her friends. She tries not to regret the bargain.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please don't read this if you're not ok with depressing shit. Nothing super graphic sad but yeah.

“You should be grateful,” he says. His fingers caress her neck gently, but with the promise of something hard. 

Rey thinks that she should be grateful. 

Grateful for full meals that have started to put some fat on her lean muscle and bony arms. 

Grateful for the fine silks that have replaced recycled desert linens and rough Resistance-issued woolens.

Grateful for the companionship he has provided to her. Just not his.

He considers her now, the red haired man to whom the galaxy bows. To everyone he is the Supreme Leader. To Rey he is simply “My Lord”, as he likes. This was the agreement she made with the former general, to save the Resistance, and the life of Ben Solo. She tries not to regret it.

Her Lord moves to kiss her on the mouth. She has never liked it, and turns her head away. This only makes him smile a sickly grin.

“Did you want to see her?” She asks him. She knows the answer, but she’s trying to change the subject and delay the inevitable.

“Later,” he growls quickly, grabbing her by the chin and forcing her lips to his. She doesn’t think he enjoys this any more than she does, not in the way he’s supposed to. Not the way two people who actually love each other do. There is no real tenderness. That died in him long ago, if it was ever there to begin with.

His kiss slows, but stays rough, and when he’s finished he wordlessly directs her to bed. This is the usual flow of his visits. 

She peels off the thin black sleeping gown she wears and approaches the bed as he follows. There, she slowly helps him out of his uniform. Everything at this part is slow. The frantic comes later, when he’s inside of her, riding her, or demanding she ride him.

He teases her sex clumsily, as he always does, before they fall into bed. He’s been honest enough with her before to admit he finds it tiresome to warm her up most days, but he understands the science of it. He fancies himself a man of technology. He breaks down everything into technicalities. 

It used to be more difficult, when she was more resistant to him, even though this was the arrangement they had made. She was a pretty hostage to have, and something in him teases his brain at thought of bringing her to heel.

It stirs in him still.

He tells her to lie down on her back before climbing in with her to tease at her some more. Her gasps and wetness are the only hints he has that she is anywhere close to ready. If she looks away and lets her mind wander, she reaches it more quickly. Today, her body obeys, and he feels her legs spread for his hand as he continues to rub and pump his fingers. He does not stop until she shudders and tries to close her thighs on his hands.

“Eager, aren’t we,” he says. Her eyes are closed but she can feel his smug smile on her.

He climbs over her, spreading her weakened limbs and she feels the press of him. This is easier than it used to be, if she closes her eyes. His pace quickens frantically as he sucks on her neck, just above the collar. There are times when he tries to coax another orgasm out of her but today is not one of those days. 

When he is done they stay in silence. She has no pleasant words for him and he does not trust her with his council, even after all she has endured for him. 

It takes him longer to recover from their exertions than it does her. His health is not good, she knows, and the stress of ruling the galaxy has sapped what little youth he had left. 

His breathing slows and his sweating stops and he’s ready to rise. She follows and helps him dress in a simple robe before leaving their daughter. 

The bastard. 

She cannot hear the human servants call her daughter by such a name, but what little has been left to her of her abilities tells her their thoughts. There is bitterness there, but pity, too. She doesn’t know which is worse. She winces every time she hears that name. It hurts.

The child is sent in-carefully-by a droid. She hates it as much as her child fears it. It’s too severe to serve a s a proper caregiver to any human, but the Supreme Leader insists. She tries to keep her daughter with her as much as possible, away from prying servants, terrifying droids, and her ruthless father, where there is laugher and idle chatting and stories about far away planets and good people.

For now, the mood must be serious, because the Supreme Leader - her father - is here. The child is dressed in a tiny black uniform, almost a replica of an adult’s. She likes the cape, but that’s about it. It’s stiff and itchy, she complains only to her mother, who can only nod in sympathy. The child’s dark red hair is pulled back into a tail. It makes her look too severe, so much like her father, which pleases him. But her eyes are all her mother’s, watching everything and saying nothing.

Her father assesses her quickly, asking after her studies, questioning her on planets, alliances, finance, science. Her mother looks on in silence. Inside, she is tense and she’s not sure why.

Once the interview is over, the child receives a pat on the head and is dismissed. As she leaves the room, she risks a glance back at her mother, who rewards her with a smile.

“She is turning out satisfactory,” he says, nodding to himself. “The new droid is working out well.”

She says nothing even though a million retorts spring immediately to her mind. The child is being groomed, she knows, for a future she won’t be able to carry out. She has her mother’s heart he said once, disgusted, after the poor child had the nerve to ask for clemency for a servant found stealing. The servant was executed and a new droid was assigned. 

“She was weak,” he says now. “She can’t afford to be.”

Again, Rey seethes. She wants to hit him. Instead, she steadies herself.

“How is your wife?” She asks. He manages to go even paler than he already is and scowls, folding his hands behind his back.

“She’s well,” he says crisply, marching to the window. He looks out, away from her, out to the dreary Arkanis landscape. “She’ll be coming to visit soon.”

Rey takes a deep breath. “How soon?”

“A few days,” he says, turning. His gaze narrows on her. “You’ll be gone from here tomorrow morning. The girl, too.”

Rey nods. It’s for the best, she knows. The Supreme Leader’s wife is a complete madwoman. Each year without a child she seems to become madder still. But appearances must be kept. They may even be allowed to go to one of the better villas on one of the Inner Rim planets. Her daughter can play in the fountains and gardens and forests she could only dream of as a child.

Thinking quickly, Rey stands and - trying to walk her most sultry walk - approaches him. He turns, curious, as she lays her hands on his chest, running her hands over his chest.

“Could we go some place warm? For her sake. She’s been having trouble breathing,” she says. Her gaze snaps to his and when he looks back she sees only cold.

“You may,” he says, pretending to be benevolent. His eyes scan hers for any hint that this may be a rise, a way to betray him.

She tries to read him back, though she’s not sure why she bothers. The dampner at her neck makes it almost impossible to reach out to the Force. He wasn’t easy to read even when she was at the height of her powers. His body may be weak but his mind was strong and mad. 

This time, his eyes remind her of something. A discussion, an accusation.

How curious you should get with child so closely to my defeat of the rebellion. 

You know it’s yours! 

Is it? What about your implant.

They can fail, I suppose.

Yes, with some help. Not your silly jedi magic, no, but perhaps a scavenger’s tinkering.

There was a test, and his science told him only the truth. He simmered in denial for many years, until she grew and resemblance became undeniable. Rey could only laugh, then. 

There is no laughter now. He studies her closely, trying to read her as intensely as she does him. “I’ll come visit. In a week perhaps.”

She tries so hard not to register her disappointment. Again, she can only nod before he claws a hand around her neck, gently stroking the collar there, and drawing her mouth into his. She feels him harden and knows this visit is not yet over.

There are times when he stays the night. There are times when he expects her to entertain guests, but never too many. She is, after all, the Supreme Leader’s worst kept secret. He only brings certain guests into her company. She does not sleep well during those visits. 

A hand snakes under her robes to caress between her thighs. “Take this off,” he says, pawing with his other hand at the robe’s collar. As it drops to the floor she moves to grasp his member, but he stops her, hand moving quickly to her wrist. He gestures to a nearby couch.

She’s barely kneeling down to sit before he is there, his own robe undone, and she knows he wants her to service him with her mouth. She obliges, because she must, and it’s easier to not have to look him in the face for most of it. There’s relief when he comes quickly, though not so much when he makes her swallow. She is trying not to gag when he kneels before her, urging her to sit back. As he parts her legs she tries to remember the last time he attempted to make her come with his mouth. 

“You’ll cry out for me when I’m finished with you,” he says, angling her sex for himself to get the most comfortable angle. “Is that understood?”

“Yes, my lord,” she almost mumbles. 

She cannot watch him do it. He hooks her legs over his shoulders and she can feel his weasel-face press against her thighs, trying to concentrate and pretend that this man is anyone else. If she takes too long to peak, he’ll grow frustrated and take his revenge in petty ways. She won’t be able to see her girl for a few days, or some other such punishment. It’s just enough incentive for her to let herself go.

They’ve had enough practice at this that she can come without too much trouble. Or, at least, she can fake for him. And when she does, she calls him her lord and master and it’s enough to bring him around for a second round. She’s face-first in the couch cushions while he works himself from behind. As he comes again, she can sense his defences weaken and hers, heightened somehow, and for a moment she can read his thoughts:

hopes her implant has not worked

would like a son, this time

wonders if it’s possible to breed a line of descendants strong in some mystical Force-magic

He dresses shortly after. In his uniform and cape, the Supremem Leader looks almost handsome. She waits in her robe, as she usually does. Occasionally she’s called upon to listen to his random musings that mean nothing. When he is done, he sits, beckoning him to her. 

He’s pleased with their meeting today. It will keep him company while he is in the arms of his wife. They may yet have a child, in the hopes of some legitimate heir, instead of some bastard that is merely “satisfactory”.

When the Supreme Leader is gone, Rey dresses quickly into something more mundane and flees to her daughter’s quarters, dismissing the cruel droid. Together, the two dream of oceans far away where they can be free.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you've made it this far, you understand (I hope) that this is not a nice story. I did not intend to continue, but there was an interest expressed, so here we are. Thank you.

There’s a terrible-yet-typical mix up in the shuttle schedules, and the Supreme Leader’s nightmare of a wife arrives before Rey and her daughter can depart dreary Arkanis.

Her name is Arlin, though no one is permitted to address her as such. Instead she is my lady or some other formality. Arlin is tall, pale, yellow haired, and sharp-looking. Beautiful in every way Rey is not. She is elegantly dressed, but not outlandish. Arlin looks respectable, almost kind and benevolent, yet her dour face always manages to ruin the effect.

They’ve all met before - wife, mistress, and illegitimate child. They are the briefest of exchanges. The girl is sometimes ignored, sometimes petted. Strong dislike on both sides is suppressed for appearances. It’s not until later, when Rey’s daughter whispers to Rey how sad and confused Arlin feels to her that Rey can understand.

Neither party must endure the other for long. This time, a gift is presented to the child. It is awkward at first, until the small one steps forward and artlessly gives her thanks. There is a sincerity that seems to melt even this sharp woman so filled with pain. Arlin pats the child’s head and departs.

Soon, Rey and her daughter are ushered to a waiting shuttle. As their ship departs, Rey breathes a little easier, squeezing her daughter close. 

“Too tight, Mama,” her daughter huffs. Rey lets go.

“I’m sorry, Mara,” she says, straightening her daughter’s simple black tunic. The child fusses.

“I can take care of me,” Mara says, trying to sound as adult-like as any five year old could. Rey tries not to smile. She worries about her child becoming too haughty. There is good in her, but this child’s father was a prime architect of programs designed to manipulate children into soldiers. Rey can only protect Mara from so much.

On the journey, Mara reads about Scarif. 

“It used to be an Imperial base! They kept lots of information there,” Mara says, hunched over her datapad, scouring it for more tidbits to impress her mother. Rey is content to sit and listen as Mara reads to her. The child swings her legs excitedly as she learns about Death Star plans and devious rebel attacks. When Mara is older Rey will have to correct her daughter on some of the history. She doesn’t dare yet, since Mara so easily repeats anything told to her.

The journey is easy and they arrive on Scarif at night. Mara wants to go play on the beach. Rey promises her an early morning visit. 

They pass two idyllic days away from the constant rain of Arkanis and the badgering First Order droids. Aside from a few servants, it is Rey and Mara alone. And even the servants are pleasant, though their presence worries Rey. Most are young Twi'lek girls, and she can’t be sure they’re here of their own will. 

Their peace is interrupted by a message two days later, as Rey rests in the shade and Mara attempts to build her most ambitious sandcastle yet. It seems the Supreme Leader can only endure his wife for so long, and will be arriving within the hour.

Rey is fast, sending her daughter away to change into something more suitable to be presented in - a bathing suit covered in sand simply won’t do - while she prepares for her master.

She watches out a small window as Hux’s ship touches down and he emerges, looking as miserable as ever. Even the short walk from the shuttle to the villa causes Hux great discomfort. He’s not used to the heat, nor does wearing a thick black uniform help. Rey doesn’t try to stifle a laugh. He can be a terrifying fool.

Rey takes in a breath and heads downstairs, trying to look as pleasant and inviting as she can muster without feeling violently ill.

Inside, Hux enters the large, echoing stone foyer where Rey and the household staff await. He dismisses his entourage with a wave of his hand, not missing a step. His stormtroopers fall back. Hux’s gaze is nowhere but the hall that leads to their private quarters. 

“Come,” he says, beckoning only Rey to follow him. She sighs quietly and follows as the servants bow and fall away. They are eager to be as far from the Supreme Leader and Rey cannot blame them.

Hux’s boots click along the stone floor. Rey is a step behind, silent and knowing. She can feel faint waves of anticipation off him. She has not felt this in many years, not since the damper was hooked around her neck. His emotions must be especially strong, or perhaps there is simply something about Scarif that amplifies the Force. 

They enter the bedroom and the Supreme Leader is eager to shed his clothing. She helps when he calls for her, removing his heavy outer jacket, helping with his belt and his boots. She can feel his icy glare on her. She can sense how much it pleases him to have her serve him.

Before shedding his own pants he takes hold of her. “Off,” he says, indicating her clothing. She pauses only for a moment, then steps away, removing her thin outer gown from her shoulders. He watches her breasts fall free. She can see his eyes shine.

He nearly collapses onto the bed, beckoning her forth, and indicating his need. She follows him, leaning down and taking him in hand. She knows what he likes and how he likes it, and under her ministrations he grows thick and tall.

As she helps him stiffen, he suddenly stops her, grabbing her wrist and pulling her closer. He seats her atop him, trying to angle himself inside, but She doesn’t wish to take him on without preparation.

“Not yet, my lord,” she says, playfully slapping his hands away. She hopes the title will placate him. He grunts and smirks, but does not move to enter her again. It’s easier for her to sit instead, bracing herself on his shoulders with his shaft pressed between them, and rub her slit along its length. This seems to please him, and he can watch lazily. He has an excellent view of her hairless crotch teasing him, and she can look away and fantasize that the man below her is some handsome stranger she picked up in a cantina. This helps her concentrate, to hit that spot she needs so much to hit.

“Such a tease,” he says, reaching up to fondle her breast. “Are you trying to think of someone else?” She blushes, wondering if she’s become that obvious, worrying suddenly that he can read minds. The concern disappears in an instant once she begins to feel her pleasure build. She’s hit herself on the correct spot and she chases that pleasure, building, and when the wave hits her she cannot stifle her moan. She rides it out, doing her best to ignore the fact that the man below her is a mad killer.

He watches her. She is not sure if he enjoys watching her now and doesn’t much care. At least she’s had her release. But he wants his, too. “Take me,” he says, growling through his teeth. He grabs her thigh and flips them over. On her back, he traps her legs with his arms and plunges into her. She is more than ready, feeling the aftershocks of her pleasure as he ruts into her.

“You enjoy my cock that much, don’t you? Dirty peasant whore,” he says, his voice strained and haughty. If she was hoping to climax again, he’s more than ruined it. She glares at him as he leers down, as self-satisfied as ever. But she feels him fill her soon enough, finished by his own filthy talk. He collapses on her before detangling himself and flopping down next to her.

Rey absolutely despises his bedroom talk. Hux cannot speak in tender words. To him, Rey is much like any other subordinate, except she is here to do the things for him that only his wife should. Yet he does not seem to like his wife much.

It only takes Rey a few moments to come down and catch her breath. Hux takes much longer. He sends for her to fetch water, and when she returns with a glass he takes long gulps, red-faced and sweating. His whole body is almost red, and it is a quarter of an hour before he sits up again. She remains by his side the whole time, silent and in her own head, so his next words startle her.

“I want you to have your implant removed,” he says simply. “I want you to bear my children - my heirs.”

Rey can only blink dumbly. This was not part of their deal. She immediately suspects a ruse. She sits up to look at him.

“You’ve proven yourself capable of breeding worthy stock,” he says. “I was concerned when Mara was born. I presumed a nobody like yourself was not capable of producing anything but simpleton children.”

She cannot speak. And then she chooses not to, to hear out every idea he has, no matter how mad.

“I think five should suffice - including Mara. A few heirs to choose from. Competition is healthy,” he says, rising from the bed. He finally moves, walking to grab a robe draped neatly over a nearby chair. “You’re still young, capable of it. But not too many children, I don’t want you to lose your figure.” He stops to look towards a window and the beautiful water that sits beyond.

“ A strong family,” he says softly. He almost sounds normal.

“No one would dare oppose me!” He says, almost yelling. There is fire in his eyes now. 

His words are mad, but no madder than the ideas he’s said before. It’s just that the previous ones didn’t involve bringing miserable children into the galaxy to use as political pawns.

A million retorts run through Rey’s mind, mostly involving cuss words and insults.

“What about your wife?” She asks. They are the first words she can manage. Yet Hux has clearly expected the question, and waves his hands dismissively.

“She can be put aside,” he says. “She’s barren, like my father’s-“

He almost let it slip. Rey knows, of course, everyone knows this man is the son not of his father’s wife but of someone else. One version Rey heard was that his mother was a kitchen servant. As a child she could never imagine how wealthy a family was to afford real human servants. Now she lives in homes that can afford many.

“She can be set aside,” he says more quietly. 

“And what happens to me?” She asks, but she knows the answer. The deal is to be restruck. What will the galaxy say to the Supreme Leader having an absolute nobody for a wife?

“Isn’t this what you wanted?” He asks. “When you and your lite rebel friends tried to stop me? To rule the galaxy? Not that you will, though, but it should be enough for you. A girl who came from nothing. What were your parents again? Some kind of junk traders? And you? An orphan. And now, out of my benevolence, raise you to become mother of the future leaders of the galaxy! The progenitor of a new and powerful family!”

He continues his raving ideas, and she realizes he is not only insistent but wants it to be done within the day. Rey touches her arm and her thoughts drift and her stomach turns. Trying not to panic, she is sure of one thing: she will not bring any more children into this misery. It is more than she can bear that Mara has been dragged into it. But what can she do? The question fills her with dread and she does all she can not to cry and rip the bedroom pillows to shreds. 

No. Destroying things won't work. She's got to think of something, for Mara.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been established in canon that General Hux was not his father's legitimate child, but the son of the older Hux and what is described as a "kitchen servant". Of course, it's also been established in canon that the younger Hux had his own father killed. I wondered if, at some point, the younger Hux tried so hard not to become like his father but, in the end, suffered from the same "weakness" and ended up married but with a "low-born" mistress. I don't believe Hux thinks much of Rey. He seems to believe anything can be achieved if you have the superior technology.
> 
> On names: Mara comes from the now-Legends character Mara Jade, who worked for the Emperor, then married Luke. I just liked the name. Arlin was just something I finally made up myself. I wasn't sure about even naming Hux's wife but I wanted to make her more real, sympathetic. I think Rey would find sympathy with anyone, if given the chance, and Arlin hasn't done anything to her, that she knows of.
> 
> I don't know how many chapters this story will have, but I have thought out a story line beyond "oh look porn".


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More.
> 
> Sorry, I had a ton written, but all in pieces. I have finally sewed them together for another chapter that is slightly less depressing than the previous ones.

The First Order medical staff are all - for lack of a better word - huge sleemos. Mara has grown up surrounded by their cold impersonality and their haughty lectures. Rey, however, was able to experience the warmth and compassion of the old Resistance medics, and she misses that.

Thankfully, only a droid is sufficient to remove her implant. 

Back on Arkanis, it seems the Supreme Leader has organized some kind of formal celebration. There’s a state room filled with more First Order sleemos, all the highest-ranking ones. It’s a sea of black, except for Rey, who is covered in a simple red gown and the ever-present damper around her neck. Mara is with her awful nanny droid, far from this party. She’d be bored to tears here, anyway.

Rey is bored, too. She’s bored being led around the room as Hux shows her off to everyone. Arlin is also nowhere in sight. Rey can feel herself worrying about the woman. It’s a strange feeling, but she knows that the First Order values efficiencies, or makes the claim to. Everything else is to be cast aside. Arlin was not efficient. Arlin could be cast aside.

But not Rey, though she can see she is not as welcome as Hux will demand her to be. She’s not sure why he would bother with such a celebration. Maybe he thinks he’s so powerful now that he cannot see the snide looks or hear the disparaging whispers. And for a moment, too, she thinks she can see into their minds. But she understands them all the same: Rey is a nobody from nowhere and will never be like them. And even more dangerously, they question Hux’s judgement for elevating her to such a status.

She doesn’t need the Force to help her hear the whispers. It seems a few of the less stupid First Order leaders recognize Rey as “that Jedi bitch” from her adventure on Crait. Some look on incredulously as Hux takes her for a turn around the cavernous room. Others are muttering to each other in clipped, Inner Rim accents. Does he not see how this looks? 

There are a few shrewd, knowing glances, but Rey still can’t be sure what exactly they’re thinking.

For the most part, these men and women are able to keep their opinions to themselves, ready to otherwise fawn upon their Supreme Leader adoringly. 

The rest of the evening goes off as these parties usually do, with drinking and asskissing and wasting of food that makes Rey’s heart ache. Afterwards, she’ll see what she can do to see if the leftovers can’t be redistributed secretly to needer people.

Near the end, Hux offers her a cup of tea. Normally she does not partake but this time he insists. “It’s for your health,” he says, and his eyes tell her not to refuse again. She drinks the bitter tea, because she cannot think of any other way to refuse him.

The party ends when Hux says it will end, because he is annoyingly punctual, but also because Rey can see the lust in his eyes. The guests are taken care of by servants and droids. Some will stay in the massive, impersonal palace here on Arkanis. Others will leave on their shuttles tonight because they cannot afford to miss more work elsewhere in the galaxy. Rey cannot tolerate any of them, and is glad to see the backs of those who leave and sighs at the idea of entertaining those that plan to stay.

For now, the only person she must entertain is the Supreme Leader, and she feels her chest constricting at the thought.

They walk down the corridor to their apartments, her arm wrapped neatly in his, as he ordered. It is silent except for the clicks of their shoes on the dark stone floor. She has not conjured up any plan to leave with Mara. 

“Your performance tonight leaves much to be desired,” he says. “If I wanted such a cold fish at my side I would have sent for a droid.”

She tries not to laugh. “I’m not sure that lot would notice the difference,” Rey says. “They despise me. Being amusing won’t change their minds.”

“You think you’re clever, you little desert rat? You remain in my protection. I raise you up, I give them the orders to like or dislike you, as I please.” The acid drips from his words. “Next time, you will be more entertaining.”

“Perhaps you’d like me to spread my legs for them, too?” she asks as they reach their apartment door. “I’m sure they would find me entertaining, then.” She’s goading him, she knows. Maybe he’ll strike her. Instead, he grins.

“You’ll spread your legs for me alone,” he says, pushing her gently forward into the room. “Remove your gown.”

Back to him, she turns slowly, removing her clothes. The gown falls easily from her shoulders, and she is bare in moments, except for the silver collar. He watches, determined and hungry. 

“On the bed,” he says. 

She obeys, walking heavily. Suddenly she feels tired.

She spreads out on the bed, her legs open wide, ready for him. 

He kneels over her, still in his uniform, catching a breast with one gloved hand before snaking lower to test her waters. Somehow she is soaking wet. She doesn’t recall being aroused. He presses two fingers in, watches greedily as she takes them with ease before withdrawing them. Instead, he lays down beside her and strokes gently up and down her slit, watching her reaction. She can feel him teasing her, drawing his finger lazily without the pressure she needs. 

She won’t look at him. Instead she closes her eyes and takes his hand in hers, guiding him where she needs his fingers, along her, inside her, and thrusting to meet his hand.

“Look at me,” he says, and she’s loathe to. And when she does he laughs. “Always pretending it’s someone else when it’s always me.” He leans over to kiss her as his fingers thrust in and out exactly where she needs them. His kiss is sloppy and his tongue forces its way into her mouth. He swallows her moans as she climaxes on his hands, and he chuckles when her hand greedily forces his fingers deeper. She’ll feel the shame of it later but for now she’ll ride out her orgasm on his gloved hand and he obliges. She can feel him watching and senses his pleasure from it. He enjoys knowing he can pleasure her, thinks it is a great skill, but there’s also a feeling that her low birth means she is so much more highly sexed, and that this is not a great measure of his talent.

As her thighs close on his hands, he withdraws them, wiping them on the bed. She knows she must look wanton as he sits up and pushes the waistband of his trousers down over his member. She’s deep in a haze of pleasure, and can’t quite care. Instead, she watches lazily as he parts her thighs and angles himself. She feels him enter, raw against her sensitive lower lips, and he begins his awkward rhythm of thrusts.

He doesn’t last long, collapsing on her soon enough, and she can feel his seed spilling inside her. He breathes heavy in her ear and she turns her face away.

It’s then, in a haze, she glimpses into his mind once more. She can sense his pleasure, his hopes that this night will produce another child. Perhaps a boy this time. 

The moments ends as soon as it started, and he pulls out of her and away to wash himself up. He does not acknowledge her as her leaves. She feels a tightness in her chest and does not move, trying to think about nothing until she’s sure he’s retired in his own quarters for the night. His seed runs from between her legs.

When Hux does not return, Rey can feel her mind sharpen and she remembers the tea. Is this what it will come down to? She’s to be drugged and sedated. She grinds her teeth.

She does not rest easy that night. The bitter tea has made her drowsy, but her anger and rage makes her heart pound. She’s mad: mad at him, mad at herself. She needs to get out of here. She needs to take Mara and run. But then there’s the bargain, the arrangement she made. If she leaves him, what happens to them? The rebels she saved? And what about-

The bed dips, and Rey can feel the weight of the mattress shift. Hux has returned. She’s not sure of the time. She’s spent hours awake, lying still, worrying the same ideas over and over again. She turns to her side, away from him. It is not a deterrent.

Wordless, he nuzzles at her neck and wraps a hand around her hips. The haze of the bitter tea has long since worn off. She swallows and turns to him. She tries to look into his eyes, but he’s too busy licking at her neck.

“Mara’s not feeling well,” she says, trying so hard to contain her nerves. “I want to take her back to Scarif.” 

He ignores her as he pulls her body under his, parting her legs.

“The sun and fresh air is good for her,” she says, almost in a whisper, as she feels his hand playing on her sex. He says nothing. Instead, he moves to kiss her as she feels a finger slip into her. “Stop.” It is almost gentle, the way she asks. Her thighs clamp down on his hand and her head moves away from his sloppy lips. His eyes tell her he’s annoyed, but not angry. And she can feel something, too. He sighs.

“Mara is to go to Coruscant,” he says calmly, almost reassuring her. “Tomorrow.” She cannot hide her shock at the news. “You’re right, she’s not feeling well. She’s grown weak from your babying her. And besides that, she’s a distraction.”

Rey’s heart pounds, and the blood rushes to her ears. She can barely hear or understand his words now.

“You bastard,” she says, almost spitting as she tries to sit up. “None of this was ever part of our bargain!”

“Careful, now,” he says. He is still calm, but his cold eyes chill her. “You wouldn’t want to do something you’ll regret.” She can feel his hands wrap around her wrists, slowly and gently.

“You won’t take her away from me,” she says. Her voice is a low growl. “I won’t let you.” Hux only grins.

“You’ll let me. You’ll let me for the same reason you spread your legs for me,” he says. He’s still very calm, but there is also something frantic building inside of him. There’s something building in her, too. But this won’t end the way he thinks.

Rey closes her eyes, and for the first time in a long time she tries to call out to something, something that’s always been there. And now she’s using all her anger and rage to call it to her.

There’s a shift in the room, suddenly. She can feel it. She ought to be able to - she’s the one calling it forth. It only takes Hux a moment longer to notice. He looks around frantically, his grip on her weakening. 

Somehow, the damper has failed. Rey is one with the Force again. There is hot terror in Hux’s eyes now. He knows this power well enough, the violent side of it, anyway. She could break his neck, send him flying, or simply leave him a babbling mess.

Instead, she looks up and speaks low and commanding.

“You will unlock the collar and let me go,” she says to him. This mind control business never worked well on him. He had been trained from a young age to guard himself against such invasions of the mind, but whatever powers she is drawing upon now are finding their way around his walls. They intrude gently into his mind, ever so coaxing, convincing him. She can feel his body relax and unwind.

“I will unlock the collar and let you go,” he says, and watches as he rises from her and walks over to his coat, retrieving a small key from a pocket. He returns to her a moment later, his face blank.

Hux kneels next to her on the bed, using the device to unlock her bond, and the collar drops away to the bed. He does not watch it drop, but she does. She thinks back suddenly to the time on Starkiller, when her powers were first revealed to her, and she freed herself from the interrogation chair. 

“I know what’s happening,” he says, and her gaze snaps back. “Somehow, the damper has failed.” His voice is calm and even, but she can see a flash of anger in his eyes. He is well trained and has a strong mind, for a madman. She’ll give him that.

“If you run, you’ll regret it. I’ll make sure of that,” he says, uttering his threat as easily as he orders his tea. But she knows he’s not joking. This is a risk, but one she’s willing to make.

Rey rises from the bed. “I won’t,” she says, keeping her voice steady, drawing on the Force for control. “You’ll stay here until morning. You’re going to sleep in. And when you wake up you’ll forget all about me and Mara. You’ll leave us be.” She goes to dress, putting on a thin robe and slippers. 

“You would take my child from me?” Hux says. His voice is still flat, but there’s a pathetic waver in it, as if he’s trying to force down some emotion.

Rey has no answer for him. It is easier to flee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Force can work as a rather nice deus ex machina when needed. I look at it this way: canonically, Hux absolutely loves technology. I like the idea of Hux thinking he can get around the Force (and nature) through technology, and then the Force (as nature tends to do) completely turning the tables on him. It's satisfying to feel his hubris being crushed.
> 
> I will be continuing this story. There's more to explain about how everyone got to where they are now and where they'll end up.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Mara escape. Now what?

Mara is good. She doesn’t fuss or fiddle with the controls like she normally does. Rey had momentarily considered knocking the little girl out with the Force. She knows how, but she worries it’s been so long. What if she were too strong with Mara and hurt her?

With her abilities returned to her, it was easy for Rey to disarm the disgusting droid that always hovered around Mara, and for the two of them to slip out of their personal quarters and down to the ship bay.

Mara senses much on her own. She must know how serious the situation is, and stays silent during their escape. Mara watches everything with pale grey eyes, and says nothing. 

The ship is stolen, and that will be a problem as soon as the officers she stole it from are located in their quarters. Hux will be a problem, too. Rey has no idea what exactly he did with her rebel friends, only vague ideas based on offhand remarks throughout the years. As much as she tried to forget them, she can’t. As much as she tried to find out about their fate, she found nothing.

And then there is Ben. She has no idea what happened to him, either, except that he managed to escape. Hux is good at hiding things, but he could never keep his frustration at losing his most valuable prisoner. Her bargain was able to buy him some time. She tries not to think about why he never came back for her. 

She remembers the time, six years ago, at the height of the war. Ben had finally defected, though not without great difficulty. Many blamed him when that final attack came from the First Order. Not Rey, though, since she knew the truth.

Ben hadn’t wanted to separate at that time. Rey had insisted. They would meet up later on some Outer Rim planet. She can’t remember the name. It never mattered. Rey ended up in a holding cell on some First Order ship with the damper around her neck. And after a few days spent covered in mud and her own blood, Hux had shown up.

“Dirty little scavenger,” he had said, mocking her. “Ren’s scavenger.”

“I’m no one’s scavenger,” she had said back to him. She remained in that cell for a few weeks. At least, she thinks it was a few weeks. The damned collar made her drowsy, and she may have slept for days at a time. Every so often Hux would show up and do nothing more than speak menacing to her. There were questions and minor threats, but nothing Rey took seriously.

And then, one day, Hux offered the bargain.

Rey had tried not to let it shock her, though it did come as a surprise. 

“Me? I thought I was just a dirty little scavenger,” Rey had said, trying to sound as unimpressed as possible.  
“There’s no denying your rather humble origins,” Hux had said, hands behind his back, pacing her small cell. “When Ren brought you to the First Order I thought he was mad. But there is something about you. Something rather unique and appealing.” Rey rolled her eyes.

“I’d rather not,” Rey had said.

“Perhaps a little more incentive,” Hux had said, brushing off her refusal. “Instead of executing the remaining rebels still in custody, they’ll be send to a work colony in the Unknown Regions. If you agree, of course. And I really think you should. Imagine spending the remainder of your life in a cell, knowing you were the cause of so many deaths.” Rey had turned to him then, eyes filled with anger. She can still remember her blood boiling at his threat.

“How would I know you wouldn’t just kill them?” Rey had asked.

“You’ll just have to trust me, won’t you?” Hux had said, flashing her a smug grin.

“What about Ben?” Rey had asked, and Hux’s grin had faded. Rey didn’t need the Force to know that whatever had happened to Ben, Hux was not happy about it, and that could only mean Ben was out of First Order hands.

It had occurred to Rey then that she had few options. Her friends needed help, and if they survived then they could rebuild and still win.

Somehow.

She should have realized then what Hux’s bargain really meant. But she was young and naive and-

“Mama, can we go to Scarif?” Mara asks. Rey breaks out of her sad old memories to smile at Mara, perched in the copilot’s seat. It is much too large for her. Rey could almost laugh.

No, Rey tells her. They’re going some place else. They need to rid themselves of the ship as soon as possible, and that’s exactly what Rey does at a fueling station at the edges of wild space. She trades down for a sturdy piece of junk that Mara eyes with disdain as soon as she learns they’re going aboard.

“Mama, we can’t fly in that,” Mara says haughtily, sounding like a miniature if her father. She wrinkles her little nose and makes a face.

“It’s not the ship that counts,” Rey says, kneeling to look Mara in the eyes. “We don’t need a fancy ship.”

Mara is skeptical, but seems to understand that this is no time to argue. She lets her mother lead her onto the junk ship, and it’s not much better on the inside. A strange, musty smell nearly overwhelms them. Rey tells Mara she’ll get used to it, but Mara isn’t so sure. But this ship is just what they need, and before they jump into hyperspace, Rey puts out a communication looking for those who had been loyal to someone named “General Organa”. Mara’s never heard of this general. She knows her father was a general once, and it was an important job, so this person must be important, too.

Of course her mother would know someone important. Her family is important. It’s what her father has always told her. She hopes they find this general, and maybe they can ride again in a better ship.

Rey waits for a reply for hours, orbiting the fueling station, not sure how much longer she can wait before Hux finally catches up for her. Mara is finally asleep in a bunk when she receives an answer. A man claiming to be a Republic loyalist offers refuge on a planet somewhere in Wild Space. Rey can’t be sure, even though he claims to be a member of the Church of the Force. It’s the only chance she has, and takes it.

They arrive a few days later on Adumar. It’s a sparsely populated planet with open, grassy plains. It reminds her a little of Lothal. Mostly poor farmer settlers surround a few small towns. She finds the settlement of the Church of the Force easily, even there’s not much to it. Rey thinks it’s cosy. Mara seems unimpressed. Rey is not surprised. At least Mara has learned not to complain.

The colony is small but self-sufficient, as she had known them on Jakku. As their ship lands and Rey and Mara disembark, they are greeted by almost every individual in the colony, each carrying a weapon. Rey surveys the group of about thirty, a mix of humans and other beings, looking for a leader. An old Twi’lek emerges from the group, and introduces herself as Hy. She takes Rey’s hand.

“We had heard the Jedi lived yet, but this gives us even greater hope,” Hy says, looking from Rey to Mara. Mara’s eyes go wide. She knows of the Jedi, but only the things her father and the meddlesome First Order droids had taught her. Rey has a lot to explain. Later.

“Thank you,” Rey says. It is the only thing she can think to say.

“Come. You must be tired from your travels,” Hy says, leading them towards the settlement. “We have set aside quarters for you and the little one. When you are rested, we’ll debrief. Our leader will return next week. He is travelling to the farming villages right now.”

Rey nods, holding onto Mara’s hand as the little girl looks around, surveying the people. When they reach one of the modest huts, Rey lets Mara go inside first before taking Hy aside.

“We cannot stay long. The First Order will be searching for me,” Rey says, but Hy cuts her off.

“The First Order is searching for all of us, it’s true. But you’ll find only refuge here, if that is what you seek,” Hy says, and Rey can see only kindness in the woman’s eyes.

“What do you know about the fate of the Resistance? It’s been years. Last I heard they were on a planet near here,” Rey asks, hoping against hope. Hy shakes her head.

“We’ve been trying to locate them as well. Many still live, but are moved around constantly. It helps prevent escapes, we think,” Hy says. “Some of the villagers are former Resistance. You may recognize a few.” Rey doesn’t think so. She had looked at their faces when they landed, and none had been familiar to her. It’s good news nonetheless. Hy pats Rey’s arm. “Please, rest for now. We will talk later.”

Rey does rest, though it’s fitful. Her thoughts are filled with worry that the First Order will show up and take Mara from her, that she will never escape Hux, that all her friends are dead and that the light of galaxy has finally been extinguished.

It’s been years since she tried, but she decides to meditate. Mara is sleeping soundly. She can feel the girl is worried, but assured since her mother is around. 

Rey sits on the floor of the hut, on a small hand woven carpet, and tries to center herself and reach out with the Force. Perhaps she can find out if her friends are alright, maybe even reach out to Ben, but it is another person who answers her call.

“Rey,” says a familiar voice. Rey opens her eyes to see an apparition of General Organa standing before her. She doesn’t think Leia has ever looked as radiant and stately as she does now, being one with the Cosmic Force.

“Leia,” Rey says, almost in a whisper, feeling tears run down her cheeks.

“You’ve been so brave,” Leia says, and Rey gulps, trying to hold back her tears. “It’s alright. Go ahead and cry if you want to.” Leia comes closer, kneeling to see her. Rey can only clumsily wipe the tears out of her eyes with her shirt sleeve. Leia looks to the bed and the sleeping form of Mara. “She’s beautiful.”

“I’ve cursed her,” Rey says, flush with shame and rage. “She’ll never know peace, and it’s all my fault.” Leia gently shakes her head.

“You did what you had to. We all do,” Leia says. “I’ve told you about my time on Tatooine. I know it’s not easy, the choice you made. Mara will come to understand that, in time.”

“What do I do now?” Rey asks through her tears. “The resistance is shattered, you and Luke and Han are gone. I don’t even know where Ben is.” 

Leia sits back, appraisingly. “Luke would have said to trust in the Force. Han would have thought up a plan on the spot,” Leia says.

“And you?” Rey asks.

“Time to think up a plan. What do you know about the whereabouts of the Resistance forces? Ask this group you’ve ended up with to put out questions to their members on other planets,” Leia starts listing off ideas. “You won’t get anywhere but sitting around feeling sorry for yourself.”

Rey sniffles and nods. “You’re right.”

“And Ben is alive. I know it,” Leia adds, and Rey perks up. Somehow, she knew it, too. Always knew, but it gives her life to know Leia agrees. “Do what you can to find him. You two need each other, now more than ever.”

“I will,” Rey says. “Leia, can I ask you something?” Leia smiles.

“Of course.”

“What’s it like, being-” Rey tries to find the right word.

“Dead? It’s not bad. A lot of old aches and pains went away and I don’t have to search for a ‘fresher every half hour,” Leia says. “It gets lonely.”

“Isn’t Luke there with you?” Rey asks. 

“Maybe. I haven’t seen him. I suppose he’s busy doing whatever Jedi do in their cosmic afterlife.” Leia shrugs. “Rey, don’t be a stranger. I was never much for this meditation stuff as Luke was, but it will do you good. And I could use the company.”

“I will,” Rey says, smiling again.

“And Rey? Take care of Ben for me,” Leia asks as her parting words. Rey can only nod at the fading image of Leia before she’s startled back into the moment by Mara calling out to her.

“Who was that?” Mara asks, rubbing sleep from her eyes. Rey turns quickly, scrambling from the floor to Mara’s small bunk.

“It was nothing,” Rey says, tucking Mara back in. “Go back to sleep.”

“I’m not tired,” Mara says simply before they hear a knock at the door. Hy has arrived at the hut, and peeks her head into the small bedroom.

“Mara, stay here while I go have a talk with Hy. Can you do that?” Rey asks, and Mara nods, and Rey has never been more grateful for her daughter’s obedience.

Rey and Hy sit at a table in the hut’s modest living space to speak in quiet. 

“I have names of Resistance fighters I’m looking for,” Rey tells Hy.

“That would be helpful,” Hy nods.

“And I’ll need you to help me put out a message, to find others who may be in hiding,” Rey says.

“We have many friends who can help with such a task,” Hy says, noding.

“Do you have contacts with any kind of resistance currently active against the First Order?” Rey asks. Again, Hy nods.

“They’re scattered, but active. Small bands of local fighters. We haven’t managed to unite them, but a Jedi could,” Hy says, looking hopefully at Rey.

“I’m no Jedi,” Rey says, sighing, but Hy only shakes her head.

“You must be what the galaxy needs most, and right now they need hope, Jedi,” Hy says, quietly and firmly, before rising. “When our leader returns, more can be done. Until then, I will get you the contacts you need, and you will get me the list of your resistance friends.”

“Thank you,” Rey says, watching Hy depart. She sits back in her chair, thinking about her friends. How might they have changed in the years since. Have they almost lost their hope, as she has. Is Ben among them, lost somewhere in the galaxy?

Suddenly she feels eyes on her back, and Rey turns towards the small bedroom to see Mara peeking out from behind the door.

“Mama, are you really a Jedi?” Mara asks. Rey puts out her arm, directing Mara to the chair Hy had left.

As Mara settles, Rey explains, “There was a time when I thought I could have been a Jedi.”

“I thought the Jedi were bad people,” Mara says.

“Some were, a long time ago,” Rey says. It’s only the truth. Out of ten thousand Jedi, she has heard the tales of the bad and the good, and the ones who were a little of both. “They were once the guardians of peace in the galaxy.” Rey watches as Mara processes the information. She knows what her father and the First Order have taught her, in passing, of galactic history and the role the Jedi played. But Mara is still so young. It will be a long time before Mara understand that the universe is not black and white, good and evil. Rey watches as Mara furrows her brow, and her mouth curls downward.

“When are we going home?” Mara asks, trying not to cry. Rey can give her no answer except to fold her daughter into her arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sap sap sap sap sap.
> 
> Rey starts to Deal With Shit (tm), like her mental health, past trauma, and leading a rebellion. She's the queen of compartmentalization.
> 
> I figured Rey would reach out and end up connecting with Leia, because Leia would have the best idea of what kind of trauma Rey has been through, and understand better just what she needs.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More plot stuff.

Rey and Mara settle into village life. There isn’t much in the way of entertainment for a young child here, so Rey has Mara help her with repairs for the villagers. It makes Rey feel useful and keeps Mara from whining. 

She tries to teach Mara, too. The child is so used to reading completely unimaginative First Order propaganda that reading machine schematics is interesting to her. Rey certainly was a natural at it when she herself was a child, only Mara will have the luxury of learning without having to do so to earn her meals.

Rey and Mara mostly eat the portions stowed away on the ship. They could both live there, too, but it’s a risk. Right now, the ship stays largely cloaked from view. That way, if the First Order does find them, they’ll have an easier way to escape. Rey is hopeful it won’t come to that.

Waiting for the village leader is frustrating. Rey can be patient, but impatient as well. And the church members aren’t very forthcoming with information. At least, that’s what she suspects. They say they’re trying to contact free resistance members, but won’t let her contact any of them directly. She doesn’t want to use her ship to try, and she doesn’t know current frequencies or codes anyway.

Hy reassures her that they’re trying their best, and that their leader is aware of her arrival and is returning to the village soon. He can only go so fast on foot, though, and Rey wonders why he just didn’t use a speeder. 

Mara is restless and bothersome. Here, away from First Order strictness, she is letting her personality through more boldly, and is demanding Rey show her how to use the Force. It doesn’t help when Rey uses the Force to catch a ceramic pitcher of water that almost falls to the ground. Mara is mesmerized, and immediately wants to know how it’s done.

Rey is still hesitant. A part of her worries about how Mara’s powers put a target on her. It is bad enough the little girl has the misfortune to be daughter to someone like Hux. 

Hy has been around several times, witness to Mara’s restlessness and Rey’s frustration. The woman offers to look after Mara, but Rey has refused. Hy means well, but there’s something in Rey that won’t let her give up Mara. She had to when she was with the First Order. Rey had hated doing it. She felt weak and docile. Mara was strong enough, but if Rey had her way there would have been no awful nanny droids or First Order officers hovering constantly about.

And then there was Hux. Rey tries not to think about him now, but it’s impossible. He lingers at the back of her mind, a constant and dark shadow. 

Shortly after Mara was born, Hux had visited them. Rey was never sure exactly why. He had made it clear before that he didn’t believe the child was his, and Rey herself was still recovering from childbirth. She had made it just as clear that she would not let him so much as touch her.

Instead, Hux quietly nursed his Corellian whiskey and made one short visit to Mara’s nursery. Rey had caught him standing over her bassinet. She had been alarmed at first. Hux had never threatened the child, but he hadn’t wanted to see her when he first arrived. Rey’s throat had shut, seeing him standing there. But then she heard him, speaking soft and slow.

“I hated my father,” Hux had said. “It took me years to realize it. I only feared him at first, when I was a child. I barely knew him when the Empire fell and he took me to the Unknown Regions. But he was my father and shouldn’t fathers love their children? I believed that. But he didn’t seem to care. Nothing I did was ever any good. I was never worthy of a hug or a pat on the head.”

Rey kept watching, listening to Hux.

“But the other children, the stormtrooper children,” Hux had said, his voice growing strained. “Those were his real children. All his time was for them. I worked so hard to change his mind. It never worked.”

Rey watched Hux’s fists tighten on the edge of the bassinet. “So I killed him, and now his precious children are mine.”

Rey’s eyes had filled with tears. She remembered watching Ben kill Han, and how it had torn him apart. She wondered, too, if killing his father had wounded Hux. She was less sure.

And then her thoughts had turned inward. If she had the chance, would she have killed her own parents? Her mother and father had not only abandoned her, but sold her to Unkar Plutt. She hadn’t understood it at the time. She had tried not to think about it much after. Instead, she had idolized her parents, and fantasized, and built them into more noble, less flawed people.

Instead of anger, the thought of her parents only brought Rey tears, as it always had. At some point she had forgiven them, understanding they were broken people who could no longer care for her. It’s the only way she could move past the pain of what they had done to her, leaving her alone in the universe to fend for herself.

At this, Rey has a curious thought, and imagines Unkar Plutt may very well be the closest thing she has to a father. She knows that the Blobfish saw her value only in her scavenging skills, and his false possessiveness meant little more. Would she have killed Unkar if given the chance? Probably not. He had protected her from the worst of Jakku’s violence, even if it was only a matter of business.

The memories bring Rey only exhaustion, which is unfortunate because she uses the Force lazily to summon her water canteen from across the room, forgetting Mara has been sitting quietly nearby.

“Mama, teach me how to do that,” says Mara, startling Rey. Rey curses quietly. 

“No, I can’t,” Rey says as Mara runs over, leaning expectantly on the wooden table. Rey takes Mara by the shoulder and looks at her seriously.

“You can’t tell anyone about this. It has to be our secret,” Rey says.

“But teach me, alright?” Mara asks. In one ear and out the other.

“It’s not safe,” Rey sighs, and Mara’s little face begins to scrunch up with anger.

“You won’t teach me because you’re mean!” Mara says, voice rising. Rey does not need a fight. “Teach me! Teach me now!”

Mara’s face grows red and her face is scrunched with rage, looking every bit as imperious as her father. Rey briefly considers finally using the Force to knock Mara out for the night, but Hy arrives.

“Coming!” Rey says out to the door, before turning back to Mara. “You’ll go to bed now if you don’t behave.” Rey tries to make her voice sound even and stern. Mara scowls.

Rey opens the door to let Hy in. Immediately, the woman senses something.

“Have I come at a bad time?” Hy asks. Mara stops off to bed while Rey shakes her head. 

“Just a little tantrum,” Rey says with a half smile. 

“I see,” Hy says, nodding. “I won’t stay long, but I’ve got news - our leader returns tomorrow morning.”

Rey can only nod. It feels like forever since they arrived, though she knows it’s really been merely a week. But while these people go quietly about their lives, the fates of her friends - and everyone else’s in the galaxy - hold perilously by a thread.

Rey and Mara try to go to bed early that night. Mara falls asleep quickly, her tantrum quickly forgotten, but Rey cannot sleep. Her mind races, and she manages only an hour or so of rest. She’s used to running on little sleep, but the years have worn on her and she’s not the youngling she used to be.

Hy comes early to wake them the next day, and Rey gets out of bed slowly. As they dress, they hear the commotion outside of the villagers, eager to greet their returning member. Rey can only mutter to herself as she pulls a woolen top over her head.

“It’s about time he showed up,” Rey says. Mara watches Rey quietly, but with intent, already dressed in her simple tunic and pants. Rey then helps Mara with her boots and the two head out to the village gates, joining the rest of the assembled villagers already there.

Rey can barely see the tall, lone figure approaching from down the long, straight road that leads to the gates. The road is flanked on either side by tall, golden grasses. When he gets closer, Rey sees the figure is hooded, but is carrying large sacks. When he arrives, the villagers greet him and he hands them items from the sacks in turn. She sees food packets and rations but also tubular vegetables and other fresh foods. The villagers seem happy. They will eat well tonight.

Rey waits for the crowd to disperse before approaching the leader. When it’s her turn, she gets closer from the side. The leader says nothing to the remaining villager, who takes some vegetables happily before turning away. The leader turns to Rey and smiles gently, and Rey cannot contain her shock. 

It’s Ben Solo.

“Hy informed me you arrived a week ago. Welcome,” he says, his voice still familiar, but changed all the same. “My name is Ben”

Rey is too shocked to speak. Is this where Ben has been all these years? What is he doing here? Why is he introducing himself? Do the villagers not know who he is?

It is Mara who breaks the awkward silence. “About time you showed up!” says Mara, standing before Ben and pointing unabashedly up at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been thinking about this, and a recent comment confirmed it, but I had considered where exactly to take this fic. I’m a multi-shipper, but I also want to give people what they want.
> 
> If you guys have an idea of where you want this fic to go, just say so in the comments. I think fanfic should be good fun times, and I’m happy to deliver. I’m really not set on any one way to do this fic. I just have a general outline while trying to keep the characters in canon (insofar as that canon exists).
> 
> That being said, I’ll keep this fic pretty much Reyux, but I’m wondering if there’s some Reylo that shows up on the side if that will freak people out. Be honest, man. I know people are very serious about ships. But there is some character developmemt with Rey that I’d like to explore that has impacts. 
> 
> Again: questions, comments, concerns - add a comment!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of everything in this chapter.

Ben, the leader of this far-off religious group in Wild Space, wears a look of serenity that Rey has rarely been witness to. He chuckles at Mara as Rey snaps out of her shock to scold her daughter.

“That was rude!” Rey says, but Ben waves her off.

“It’s alright,” Ben says, shrugging. “I’m sorry I kept you both waiting. Have you been comfortable? Our village is small but we do our best to see to our guests.” Ben approaches them and removes his hood. Rey can see he’s aged. The scar she gave him on Starkiller is still there. His hair is slightly longer than she remembers, and he’s smiling. A lot. Ben kneels to talk to Mara.

“You’re Mara, aren’t you?” He asks.

“Yes, sir,” Mara says, suddenly now on her best behaviour.

“You’re a very brave girl, accompanying your mother so far,” he says. His voice is gentle. Mara nods, and Ben reaches into a pocket inside his cloak. “I heard you had come, so I bought this.”

Ben hands Mara what Rey thinks is a sweet of some kind. It’s long, colourful, and attached to a wooden stick. Mara was not permitted sweets before, but Rey had smuggled some to her occasionally. Rey had never really known treats like this as a child, and she couldn’t bring herself to deny her own daughter. Mara seems to recognize it, and takes the treat from Ben happily. Before she unwraps it, Mara glances back to her mother for approval.

“Go ahead,” Rey says, and Mara indulges immediately.

With Mara placated, Ben takes Rey aside.

“Oh Ben,” Rey says softly, trying to keep hold of her emotions. She cannot stop herself from embracing him. “I thought you were dead.”

But Rey feels Ben stiffen under her hug, and pulls back. “Ben?”

Ben is blushing, and the look in his eyes tells her something is wrong. “Have we met before?” he asks.

Rey can feel her heart drop into her stomach. She steps away, and before she can mutter apologies, Ben speaks.

“My memory is not good. There was an injury, or so I was told,” Ben says, nervously running his hands through his hair. His smile has faded to a lopsided grin of embarrassment. “I’m sorry if we knew each other from before. I can’t remember.”

Rey tries to hold back tears. “It’s alright,” she says, her voice squeaking. “We knew each other. Yes. Briefly.” She’s simplifying things, but its the best she can do.

Later, Rey sends Mara off to play in a corner while Hy joins her at the table.

“Something happened to him with the First Order,” Hy says. “He remembers some things but not others.”

“But you know who he is, don’t you?” Rey asks quietly. Hy nods.

“He’s Ben Solo. We know. But we thought it best to keep him in the dark on that,” Hy says. Rey cannot comprehend.

“Why?”

“You know what he was. If you had the former Kylo Ren come to you for help, why would you remind him of what he had done? Of what he could be capable of again?” Hy says.

“So he’s a prisoner here, like I was with the First Order,” Rey says. Hy shakes her head.

“No. We are simply allowing the Force to do as it will, and it willed that Ben Solo should be reborn,” Hy speaks softly but with the determination of someone with conviction. Rey knows this is what they believe is best for Ben and the galaxy, and she cannot believe it.

“I have to tell him. I have to remind him who he is! For the sake of the galaxy!” Rey says, pleading. Hy shakes her head.

“You cannot,” Hy says. “We cannot help you if you chose that path.”

“But Ben Solo needs-“

“Ben needs time. If you cannot abide our rules then it would be better if you left,” Hy says. The words are, as always, gentle, but the warning stings.

Later that night, after Hy leaves and Mara is asleep, Rey asks Leia for guidance.

“What a bunch of fools,” Leia says. “No wonder Ben’s been so hard to find!”

Leia sits on a wicker stool before Rey, who is once again seated on the rug on the floor. Leia crosses her arms. “What should I do?” Rey asks.

“They haven’t left you much to work with,” Leia says, thinking. “But it sounds like they don’t have any nefarious plans. As long as they won’t serve him up to the First Order, you’re fine, but I’d get out of there as soon as you can.”

“They’re promised to put me in touch with resistance fighters,” Rey says.

“Let’s see if they do. You’ll know soon enough if they’re jerking you around or not.” Leia’s face grows soft. “How is Ben? Is he well?” Rey nods.

“Still tall, less brooding. Smiles a lot more than he used to,” Rey says.

“Ben used to smile a lot when he was a kid, if you can believe that. He was such a happy baby,” Leia says. “Smiled and laughed all the time. What I wouldn’t give to have those days back.”

“I’ll do my best, Leia,” Rey says.

“You can take care of him, but you don’t have to save him,” Leia says, looking serious.

“I know,” Rey says.

The next day, Rey is ready for business, eager to get what information she can from these people and move on. Hopefully she can bring Ben with her, though their first meeting leaves her thinking she may end up dragging him.

“I won’t give you weapons,” Ben says, folding his hands on the table. He hunches over it, almost comically so. “I don’t believe violence is the way.”

Rey stifles a laugh. “But everyone here has weapons.”

“For defense,” he says.

“What kind of defense will you be able to put up when the First Order comes for you? Don’t you remember when-“ Rey says, but cannot finish.

“Remember what?” Ben asks. Rey was going to remind him of Tuanul, the village he and the First Order had destroyed on Jakku, shortly before they met the first time. But she doesn’t want to cause trouble for Hy and the others.

“Nothing,” Rey says quietly, looking down to her hands.

Ben says nothing. Instead, he rises and changes the subject, looking cheerful as ever. “Please come to dinner tonight. Bring Mara, too. I’ve brought some fresh food back from the villages. Not much, but I promise a good meal for you and your girl.”

“I can’t,” Rey says. She doesn’t want to deal with him again today. Ben waves his hand.

“Please. You’re my guest,” Ben says, and Rey looks at him wide-eyed. “Did I say something wrong?”

Rey dismisses him. “It’s nothing.”

Despite her misgivings, Rey and Mara end up dining with Ben. It is just the three of them, and Ben cooks a simple but tasty meal. Between simple conversation and Ben indulging Mara in her questions and stories, Rey cannot help but notice his lingong glances. When she returns one with a smile, Ben blushes deeply.

“Mama, when can we see papa again?” Mara asks, and Rey tries not to groan. Her daughter’s timing is always impeccable.

“Your father?” Ben asks innocently. “Where is he?”

“My papa is-“

“He’s away,” Rey says quickly, giving her daughter a serious glance. If Mara cannot read her, Ben can, and he - thankfully - changes the subject to happabores.

Later that evening, Mara has passed out in a small sleeping room in Ben’s own while Rey and Ben drink some tea and attempt some more small talk. Ben is quiet, mostly answering Rey’s inoffensive questions about the planet they’re on. Suddenly, Ben must draw upon his courage to ask Rey a personal question.

“What happened to Mara’s father?”

Rey swallows. She knew the question was coming, and a million explanations had rolled through her head in preparation. She even considered simply telling the truth: that her sweet, imperious little girl had been fathered by the Supreme Leader of the galaxy. Rey wonders how many people might guess the truth. They know she left the First Order, and Mara bears more than a passing resemblance to one of the most well-known men.

Rey decides to see how long she can keep the facade.

“He was a pilot. He died in an accident,” Rey says, not looking at Ben. Only later does she realize she could have attempted to use her powers to convince Ben that her words weren’t a lie. She wonders what that means.

For now, Rey is simply relieved that Ben accepts it and moves on.

“Mara’s a good kid,” Ben says. “It would be nice to have children here in the village.” Rey notices the wistfulness in his voice, and her chest tightens.

“I should head back,” Rey says, rising from her seat. She almost adds “home”, but this place is not her home. Rey has no home, no family, save for Mara. Mara, her heart, is her home.

Ben nods and goes to help rouse Mara, who is deeply asleep. When Rey tries to lift her, the little girl squirms. Mara isn’t heavy to someone like Rey, but when she fusses so it’s difficult and frustrating fir Rey to keep her balance.

“Come on,” Rey says in a whispery command.

“Let me,” Ben says, bending into the small bunk and taking Mara easily into his arms. Rey is relieved when Mara stops her fussing, and seems to melt into him. Holding Mara, Ben offers to walk them over to Rey’s quarters.

“You don’t have to,” Rey says, sighing, but again Ben will have none of it, and the group heads out in silence.

The night is chilly, but the villagers have lent Rey woolen clothing to protect against weather and wind. Mara keeps warm in Ben’s arms, and Rey cannot help think back years before, to Takodana. Ben - Kylo Ren then - had carried her. At least that’s what Finn told her later.

The thought of Finn makes her heart drop. First thing tomorrow she must talk with Ben and Hy about their contacts. She believes her scattered Resistance friends are still out there, somewhere, and she’s going to find them.

Rey, Ben, and Mara make the short walk quickly, led by the small, faint lights that dot the village. Ben settles Mara gently to her bed, and Rey feels relief as she walks Ben to the door.

“We’ll help you in any way we can,” Ben says before leaving. Rey nods and gives him a half smile, watching him head back along the dusty path back to his quarters. Something strange claws suddenly at Rey, telling her to call after Ben, to invite him back. Would they both fit in her narrow bunk? Would they wake Mara.

Rey shakes her head and goes inside. She’s just feeling lonely, that’s all. She’s been lonely a lot in her life. Her years with Hux and First Order were as lonely as the ones on Jakku. Hux would leave her for days, weeks, even months at a time, and when Hux with her he gave her little to fill the hole in her soul.

With Mara, Rey was suddenly less lonely. But an infant wasn’t the same as an adult, and sometimes Rey caught herself trying to chat up First Order officers. They were largely a dead-end, but the regular staff in places like Scarif had been better. Some had even become something like friends. Rey would miss them. Someday, perhaps, she might be able to see them again.

Rey sighed and sat at the table in the common room, unable to sleep yet. She was consumed by worry, and her mind drifted again to Hux. She remembered his first discussion about the implant that should have prevented Mara’s conception in the first place. He had been adamant: no offspring. Hux had been serious yet gentle as he explained it to her.

“As Supreme Leader, I must set an example,” Hux had said as he paced the room. Rey had been seated on a hard, stiff First Order chair. “I will marry a proper consort and father legitimate children.”

It was true. Even then, Hux had been exploring a number of options. He needed to shore up support for his rule, and closely analyzed which union would be the most advantageous, scrutinizing lists of celebrities, heiresses, and royals.

But Rey was different. Their arrangement brought something different for Hux. She wasn't good enough for some things, just one thing.

There was something else about her that concerned Hux - he had tried to explain to Rey that he understood how her Force powers worked - at least as he understood them. He had gone on about genetics and a lot of technical things. Rey understood it all quite well herself, since she was not an idiot, but Hux had mistook her boredom for confusion.

Hux used Luke and Ben and Vader as examples. The chances of Rey having a powerful child were high, he reckoned. Best to avoid that. It would be cruel to the child, he had said, not explaining why. Rey knew the truth - he feared a child more powerful than himself. But what use was it to tell him so?

Still, when Rey had finally accepted the implant, Hux had been content to spill his seed into her. But she hadn’t accepted it without a fight.

“Why don’t you get one?” Rey had asked him.

“It’s a basic medical necessity,” Hux had said, sighing. “I understand you grew up on a primitive backwater, but in more civilized areas of the galaxy women are happy to have implants.”

It had been Rey’s turn to sigh. Jakku may have been in the middle of nowhere, but contraceptive implants for men and women weren’t unknown to her. If she hadn’t heard about them in town, from fellow scavengers and travelling visitors, and even from old personnel manuals she had come across in the old Imperial ships she had long explored, she heard about them in the Resistance from her friends and the medical staff.

Rey hadn’t got one when she had joined up with the Resistance. There hadn’t been time. And back in Jakku she had been protected by Plutt. Her scavenging skills were worth too much to take any risks, and hired goons were cheaper than an implant. And besides all that, Plutt hadn’t wanted to give her any ideas. Or at least that’s what Plutt had thought. He always thought he was that much cleverer than her. Hux thought he was cleverer than her, too. Snoke had also made the mistake of underestimating her.

So much for presumptuous men.

After Rey’s fifth refusal, Hux had sighed, sounding completely exasperated. “Will you please just accept the bloody implant? I must have proper heirs. It won’t work if I have the damn implant.” It was as nicely as he was ever going to get, and Rey had acquiesced.

Shortly after that, he had come to her for the first time.

Hux had insisted on taking her from behind, telling her to pretend he was someone else and asking her who she was picturing. She had said nothing, and he came all the same. She had not. It had been quick and painful. Small mercy that she had not had to face him. He did not stay, and returned only the next night.

That second time was different. She stiffened when she heard the door to her bedroom slide open. Rey had forced herself to turn and watch him approach, dressed only in his black robe. When he had touched her shoulder, she hadn’t been able to stifle her shudder. Somehow, he hadn’t looked surprised.

“You must be sore from last night,” he had said. There had been no gentleness in his voice, but no mockery either. It was simply a statement, as if commenting on the weather. “I won’t hurt you,” he had said then, and she believed him enough to stand up and slip out of her short gown. Before she could move to the bed, he had put out his arm. “No, sit.”

So Rey sat, naked before him on the dark leather chair as Hux came around and kneeled between her legs, slowly parting them further with his hands.

“Close your eyes,” he had said, and she obeyed, her heart racing. Rey had no reason to believe him when he had said he would not hurt her, and couldn’t imagine what he was trying to do now.

With her eyes closed, Rey could only sense his touch and hear his words. She had felt as he had run his hands along her legs, up her stomach, and along her breasts. She had felt his breath hitch as his fingers began to play with her nipples. She had her breath then, not sure what to do or say, so ashamed when it began to feel good.

Her heart fluttered madly when she had felt him run his hand further down. She remembers grabbing his wrist to stop him and his voice reassuring her she would enjoy it. And then she felt his fingers down there, running along her lower lips. It had been uncomfortable at first, but not as painful as the previous night.

“Have you ever touched yourself there?” Hux had asked. She had only shaken her head. That had made Hux laugh.

She felt as he had pressed a finger harder down as he wiped back and forth along and finally inside.

She had pressed her eyes tighter and gasped, before his lips were on hers. The finger kept pumping and she had started to breathe hard and whimper. She remembered his smug chuckles.

“Do you want more?” Hux had asked. She had felt like she was chasing something, some feeling. In answer, she had brought her hand to guide his own.

She had felt her legs part wider, moving her body against his hand, his tongue in her mouth, and her thought only that this felt like the most natural thing in the world.

It had not taken long for that awesome wave of pleasure coursing through her, which she tried to stifle from coming out in one giant moan. Instead she had tried to close her thighs around his hand and opened her eyes to the ceiling, trying to catch her breath.

A knock at the door startled Rey from her thoughts. She rushed to the window to see the faint outline of Ben Solo. Her heart racing, she quickly answered the door.

“I’m sorry to bother you. I saw your light was still on and - I didn’t wake Mara, did I?”

Rey shakes her head. “Mara will sleep like the dead until sunrise.” Ben seems relieved, but Rey wants to know why he’s back. Her heart is still racing.

“I wanted to ask you something,” Ben says, speaking with hesitation. “About when you knew me from before.” You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

“It’s alright,” Rey says.

“Was I a good man then?” Ben asks, his eyes filled with worry.

This time, Rey cannot lie. “No, you weren’t.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone for the feedback on the last chapter. We move a little bit forward, look a little bit backwards, and I hope I haven’t completely fucked up the tenses. 
> 
> I try to remember to write Mara as a normal child instead of as an idealized one. It’s more challenging than it seems.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A teeny bit of filler, some character development, some story progression.

One month passes, then another, and Rey hears nothing about the fate of her friends. It is not from lack of trying.

Every day she asks Ben about it, and every day she is gently rebuffed. It will take time, he tells her.

Rey feels dead on her feet. After the damper was removed, her energy levels had surged. She felt powerful and restless. But now it was as if the damper was still around her neck, sapping her strength.

Despite his lack of assistance with her friends, Ben seems to be making a real effort to help Rey in other ways. He is happy to watch Mara as Rey helps repair a generator or a cistern pump. Mara likes Ben, enjoying the simple affection her birth father had never lavished upon her.

Rey watches Ben show Mara how to cook. He gently guides her hand to stir some ingredients in a bowl, and Rey realizes she’s not holding her breath. There is no tightness in her chest. It had always been there before, when she watched Hux with Mara, nervous he might do something to her. 

Hux’s path towards fatherhood had been a long, careening one. If Rey was honest with herself, her own hadn’t been much smoother. She had known she had been with child long before she could ever admit it to herself. Compartmentalizing her life had never been a challenge, but this had not been something she could hide forever.

And then Mara was born and she could deny it even less. Hux had come to the idea gradually. After months of cycling between angry tirades, accusations, brooding, sulking, and ignoring her, Rey had found him once again in Mara’s room, holding the sleeping girl in his arms.

Rey’s first instinct had been to run and grab Mara, to make sure she was still breathing. He could have done anything to Mara. There was no trust there. Hux did not look to Rey as she had stood at the doorway to the dark nursery. Instead, she had held her breath, and remained silent.

“My mother was a woman who was not my father’s wife. Did you know that?” Hux had said, not looking up. 

“No,” Rey had said, almost in a whisper. Of course she had heard the rumour. The Empire had needed children, it was said, and a bastard of high ranking Imperial officer was better than nothing at all.

“She was a kitchen maid,” Hux had continued, his eyes fixed on Mara’s sleeping face. “But I barely remember her. I was small when my father took me away from her, into the Unknown Regions.”

Rey’s fingers had itched.

“I hated him for it,” Hux had said then, anger washing over his face. Rey had held her breath.

As soon as it had come over him, the anger had left Hux’s face, leaving only a strange gentleness.

“Mara. It was my mother’s name.”

After that night, there had been no more accusations. Mara did look strikingly like her father, as much as it pained Rey to admit. Yet it had been the little girl’s saviour. Perhaps Hux had always known, but denied it for so long. Rey could understand that.

Mara is stirring the bowl almost viciously now, looking to Rey for approval. She gives her daughter a weak smile before Ben intervenes, as Mara has now managed to get batter down the front of her shirt. As he removes the bowl and starts to clean batter off Mara, his eyes meet Rey’s. She sees his gentleness, but there is something else there that makes Rey blush and look away.

“Can we eat it now?” Mara asks Ben.

“No,” Ben says, chuckling. “It needs to bake first.” Ben looks to Rey. “You look tired. Why don’t you rest?”

Does she look tired? “It’s alright. I can look after Mara,” says Ben, as Mara is squirming in her newly-damp tunic.

Rey realizes she is too tired to argue, which is a sign that she could use the rest. She shakes her head. “Mara, be good for Uncle Ben.”

“I’m always good,” Mara says casually, as though she has the power to make her words ring true. Rey fears her daughter’s ease in telling lies will be terrifying if she ever learns to wield the Force in any capacity, but she can’t worry about it now. 

Rey is asleep as soon as her head hits the pillow. She feels herself drift from reality to the dark hallways of star destroyers she once occupied. Officers and stormtroopers pass by in blurs as she walks past, looking for something she doesn’t understand.

“Rey?” She hears a voice call out. It’s quiet and muffled, but calls out again, clearer and louder. “Rey!”

Rey turns slowly, knowing already what she’s going to find. Hux is standing there is his sleeping robe, looking as though he’s seen a ghost. Perhaps he has. Maybe, Rey thinks, she’s died in her sleep, and now she will haunt Hux through the Force. 

Hux steps forward, his fear quickly gone, replaced by a familiar anger.

“Is this some trick? Jedi witchcraft?” Hux says, his face flushing red. “How are you here?”

Rey feels strangely calm. “Maybe you’re dreaming of me,” she says, amused. She shouldn’t be amused, but she knows somehow that she is safe, that this is a dream and he cannot come near her.

Hux is not amused.

“You vile little wench,” Hux says, almost spitting with rage. “You think you can run off and take my child? We had an agreement. I will destroy everything you cherish!”

“We were your prisoners,” Rey says simply. There is an eerie calm to her voice, in contrast to Hux’s snarling anger. “That is no life for a child.”

“You—it was your choice!” Hux says. “Your choice to have the child, not mine!”

“You seemed to appreciate it, in time,” Rey says.

“You will bring the child back! Surrender yourself to the nearest planet!” Hux yells. Rey says nothing, which seems to enrage him even more. “You will not make a fool  
of me!” 

Hux charges at her, but as soon as he touches her shoulders Rey is awake, thrown out of her dream with a start. Her heart is racing and her sweat has soaked the meager blankets on the bed. 

Rey sits up, wiping sweat from her forehead, and squints at the doorway. The shadow of Ben stands at the threshold, watching.

“Anyone ever tell you it’s creepy to watch people sleep?” Rey says, voice groggy. Ben takes a step in.

“I’m sorry. I heard a noise,” Ben says.

“Uh-huh,” Rey shrugs, and walks to a nearby basin to wash her face. “Where’s Mara?”

“Levitating spoons. You were aware she can use the Force,” Ben says. 

Rey freezes.

Ben senses he’s said exactly the wrong thing.

“I mean-“ Ben starts to speak again, but Tey is already pushing past him to the kitchen to see Mara with her spoons, held artlessly aloft in an uneven configuration approximating a circle.

“Mama look! I learned!” Mara says proudly. Her jubilation is cut short as Rey walks over, grabbing the spoons to slam them down on the table.

“Mara, I said no! I’ve said no so many times!” Rey says, shouting without meaning to. Mara’s face begins to scrunch.

“Uncle Ben said—“ 

“Uncle Ben can go to hell! I’m your mother!” Rey says, almost immediately regretting her words. Mara’s eyes fill with tears and she runs loudly to the bedroom bawling. Rey can hear the girl throw her tiny body onto the bed.

Before she can go sort things out with Mara, Rey directs her ire to Ben.

“Why would you do that?” Rey asks angrily. “Do you want half the galaxy hunting her?”

“I didn’t think—“

“No, you never do. That’s the problem,” Rey says, butting her way past him. Mara has spread herself out on the bed face down, and is still crying as loudly as her tiny body will allow. Rey knows it won’t bring the tears to an immediate end, but she gives Mara the apology Rey’s own parents never gave to her. She rubs Mara’s back as the girl’s crying turns to breathless, heaving sobs.

Eventually, Mara calms down and Rey tucks her in, wiping her face clear of snot. Even in dim light, Rey can see Mara’s face is as red as her father’s after such a rage. It is hard to watch in one so young. Rey hopes Mara will grow out of it.

As Rey wanders out of the bedroom to grab some caf, she finds Ben sitting patiently at the table.

“I’m truly sorry,” he says. Rey narrows her eyes at him before grabbing a cup.

“So long as you’re sorry,” Rey says, hoping Ben picks up on her sarcasm. “You know what could happen if they get their hands on her?”

“Sorry—who’s ‘they’?” Ben asks. Rey looks at him, incredulous.

“They? The First Order? Bounty hunters?” Rey says, waving her hand and trying not to go ballistic on this man while her daughter is sleeping in the other room. “You know what they do to children who can use the Force?”

Ben says nothing. His face is filled with compassion and concern. Rey sits down, cradling her caf.

“She’s wonderful,” Ben finally says. “Mara, I mean. You’re a good mother.”

Rey can sense he means every word. Then again, Ben had never lied to her, not when it really counted. 

“Well, it’s late. I should go,” Ben says, rising. “Would it be alright if I come by tomorrow morning? I’d like to apologize to Mara.”

Rey nods, and Ben awkwardly slips out, trying to make a little wave to Rey before closing the door behind him. After he’s gone, Rey can’t stifle a sigh, and puts her head in her hands. A sudden realisation washes over her as her hands fly to her stomach. She knows now why she’s felt so tired lately, why she’s lost her strength. 

This will complicate things a great deal.  
But Rey won’t worry about that yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise Rey won’t sit on this planet forever, but we got a sort-of glimpse of what Hux is up to (being angry). I don’t believe Rey and Hux have any kind of force bond (Hux is too stubborn to be attuned to it). I believe it was a weird confluence of things, and mostly on Rey’s end. But Hux was sleeping too so less likely to reject it (meeting in the dream).


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Return of the smut.

Rey meditates while Hy looks after Mara. Hy seems to enjoy it and besides that Mara is still a bit put out since the episode with the spoons. Ben had been by in the morning to check on Mara. He had not stayed long, which was for the best. Rey has much to think about, and Ben hovering about complicates things.

The meditation doesn’t take long before Leia appears, as stately in death as she was in life. Rey breathes a sigh of relief and tries to catch Leia up on the lack of progress on locating the imprisoned rebels. However, Leia is clever and knowing.

“You’re going to have another child,” Leia says simply, and Rey lets out a different sigh.

Rey tells the truth, knowing there’s no place to hide.

“I see,” says Leia, when Rey is done. There is no judgement in the former general’s voice, but there is concern in her eyes. Rey looks away.

“I’m a fool, I know,” Rey says, sighing. Leia shakes her head. 

“You’re not,” Leia says. “It will be difficult if you keep the child, though that’s stating the obvious. Whatever you do, don’t wait too long to decide. What about Ben?”

“He’s both as useful and useless as ever,” Rey says honestly, grateful at getting to the reason why she contacted Leia in the first place. “He’s trying to get through to his contacts, but nothing yet.”

“Nothing? But it’s been months,” Leia says. Rey shrugs. “Have you spoken with them directly, these ‘contacts’?”

“They won’t speak to me,” Rey says. “They only trust these church members.” Leia scoffs.

“A little persuasion never hurt anyone,” Leia says.

“I’m afraid to burn my bridges here.”

“Some bridges are meant to be burned,” Leia says. “At any rate, you haven’t much of a choice.”

Rey says nothing, and Leia’s knowing eyes narrow in on her. 

“I never knew you to be afraid of anything,” Leia says simply.

“Things changed,” Rey says, thinking of Mara. Leia nods.

“Parenthood changes you. Your daughter’s welfare is your primary concern. I understand it. But don’t make the same mistake I did,” Leia says, looking away. “I was so sure sending away Ben to his uncle was the right thing to do, that he would forgive me in time. I couldn’t see the forest for the trees.”

As well as Rey knows Leia’s words are true, she knows it’s still a mess anyway. Rey can’t help but feel trapped. Leia senses it, too.

“Listen, Rey, I can’t figure it all out for you. It’s true. I’m nothing but an old ghost now,” Leia says, smiling. “What I’m saying is—don’t be afraid to trust people.”

Rey thinks on Leia’s advice all evening. She’s now been on the planet close to three months. Her time is running out, she knows. Either Hux will find them or her friends will die in prison. 

A nagging voice in her head sometimes pushes in, asking her what is one month more in a prison camp? What if Hux had everyone murdered years ago? He’ll find Rey and Mara soon enough, and she’ll be executed or return to being Hux’s pet breeder. Mara will be doomed to a shallow, heartless life in the machine of the First Order. And the galaxy will be crushed by authoritarians and fanatics.

But Rey is a glass-half-full kind of person. She’s got hope. And she’s got a will of iron. Even if her friends are dead she’ll fight on, for them, for everyone else in the galaxy who has suffered and yearns to be free.

Rey should feel free now, but of course she does not. Her hand is on her stomach again, though she knows it's so much more than that. She’s known what it’s like to feel trapped without chains or bars. On Jakku she had tied herself to the fantasy that her parents were coming back for her. All she had to do was wait.

The bonds Hux had put on her were real. Rey remembers the battle before. The rebels had received intelligence and followed the First Order to a station holding slave workers. 

It had been a trap. 

Rey still isn’t sure about how the technology worked, but she’d love to find out. During the battle there was an explosion, she was knocked out, and woke up days later in a cell with the damper around her neck.

She knows that the damper suppressed not only her Force sensitivities, but left her mind often muddled. It was hard to concentrate for long periods. Had it been a side effect or part of the design? She doesn’t know.

Shortly after, Hux had come to her with his offer.

“Am I supposed to follow you around the galaxy, then? Like luggage?” She had asked sarcastically. Hux had laughed at her, but Rey had known it wasn’t from amusement.

“Of course not!” Hux had said, sneering. “You’re a rebel, not to mention your pedigree. What were your parents again? Ren had told me. Some kind of drunken junk traders?” Rey had looked down and closed her eyes. “How would it look to have you around at official meetings at events, with your terrible manners and common looks? The galaxy would think I’d gone mad.”

Rey remembered trying to breathe, to ignore his words. To let them roll off her.

“You’ll be going to Arkanis. It’s my homeworld, you know,” Hux had said in a cheery voice, sounding like a salesman. “You will want for nothing.”

Rey had wanted to point out how untrue that was. But she hesitated then, and in that short time Hux had closed the space between them. She had found herself in his grip. Until then, they had never been this close before. Rey had tensed. 

“Show me you’re grateful,” Hux had said quietly.

She had kissed him.

She did as good of a job as she knew. She had seen other humans do it to one another, not as friends but as more than that. All you had to do was touch lips. Sort of.

Rey hadn’t expected him to open his mouth, and had tried not to call out in surprise when she felt Hux’s tongue move sloppily against hers. She can remember barely being able to breath, and feeling like a child. She had been so out of her depth then.

After Rey spent a near-eternity trying not to squirm or run, Hux had pulled away, looking at Rey with hooded eyes and a satisfied expression.

Later, Rey discovered Hux had been true to his word. On her arrival in Arkanis, a dark but expensive-looking complex awaited her. The bedroom closets were filled with clothing, though all of it was red, black or grey, and Rey wasn’t sure some of it was clothing at all.

There had been some model of servile droid, there more to keep Rey in line than anything else. Having surveyed the clothing, Rey had grabbed one particular item that appeared to be a robe of sheer material. Her disapproving sneer had earned her comment from the bored-looking droid.

“A garment used to entice your partner,” the droid had said in a low drone.

There were many comments Rey wished to make, but none if them seemed appropriate. Instead, she had put the garment away and sighed. “Is there anything...basic?” Rey had asked the droid. It pointed to a drawer.

“Standard issue attire,” the droid had said. When Rey looked inside, there had indeed been pairs of more practical shirts and pants. The only option had been black, but at least it had been a start.

There had come a time later when Hux would send word requesting Rey greet him in certain outfits. The first time she had refused, and had been punished by being forced to listen to one of Hux’s angry lectures about all he had done for her, all she owed him. 

“I’m not your pet!” Rey had yelled back. She was just as capable of rage as he was, though nowhere near as mad. Her anger had enraged him even more.

“You really are an ungrateful little wretch, aren’t you!” Hux had shouted. His face had long since grown red. “I ask only simple things of you, give you all the luxuries of the galaxy, and I am met at every turn with obstinance and childish games!”

“If you like it so much, you wear it!” Rey had said, flinging the offending garment to the bed. It had been the same sheer robe she had encountered with such distaste on her arrival, and it had been the only thing he had wanted her to greet him in.

With her full strength, there would have been no question of her being able to stop him. But thanks to the damned collar Rey had been rendered weak and frail. It did not take much for him to wrestle her to the carpeted floor. Even still, she had fought against him, until he had her wrists against her head and she could see his eyes shining above hers. 

“Go ahead,” Rey had said, turning away with gritted teeth. She had felt his hands tighten around her wrists, knew he was still angry.

Hux let go and slowly stood. 

He wasn’t as young as he used to be. Years of poor sleep, drinking, and smoking were catching up with him. 

Rey had leaned forward on her elbows just in time to watch Hux grab some whiskey, pouring two glasses. She remembered the bitterness in his face mixed with sorrow.

“I won’t become my father,” Hux had said quietly. Then he had held out one of the glasses to her. “I think we could both use it.”

Drinking was something Rey avoided if she could. She couldn’t escape what it had done to her parents. The fear of becoming like them was ever present in her mind. She had taken that glass reluctantly.

For the better part of an hour, the two sat in silence, slowly nursing their drinks and recovering their minds - or losing them. Rey was never quite sure which.

Tired yet restless, Rey eventually stood, determined to get to bed. Or had it been the ‘fresher? She couldn’t remember which. Hux, now equally determined to play the part of gentleman, came to her aid when she stumbled over an ottoman. How had that thing got there?

It was too bad Hux had become similarly inebriated. Whether she had planned it or not, Rey made it as far as the bed before collapsing, and Hux came tumbling down with her. The sight of a man dressed in full First Order uniform falling over himself would have been funny to Rey sober, and it was absolutely hysterical to her drunk. Even serious, dour Hux could not stifle a smile this time and, in a moment, Rey had seen a glimmer of what Hux had once been, before Snoke and the First Order and his own father had planted their seeds of hate and cruelty into him. 

This time, when he hovered over her, the malice in his eyes was gone, replaced with something more hopeful and human. For a moment, the galaxy had retreated, leaving only two lonely people. It had all felt strangely familiar to Rey.

“You really are extraordinary,” he had said then, before leaning down to kiss her.

And she had let him.

And she had enjoyed it.

And she had wanted him to do it again. 

And more.

The kisses had turned into frantic grasping of collars and belts. Rey had felt a giddy thrill when she felt his hands push down her pants and a finger slide along where she’d needed him the most. Another hand had brushed up her shirt and across a nipple, teasing roughly.

Rey had tried to steady herself, but she may have pulled at him too roughly when she managed to free his shaft from his pants. 

“Darling,” Hux had rasped into her mouth. “Gentle.” Rey had felt herself blush. He had never used such terms with her. Then again, she had never felt this warm. 

She had pulled on him vigorously, trying to find a rhythm, difficult as she also tried to kick off her pants to give him better access for her own pleasure. When he pulled away to remove his coat and undershirt, she had whined. He had barely finished when she grabbed him, pulling him back between her legs.

“So anxious for me, darling?” Hux had said, returning to her embrace. Another deep kiss had followed as Rey could feel how ready he was for her. 

It hadn’t taken long for Hux to follow through. Rey remembers it feeling so right then. Not like the times before. He had rocked into her slowly, reverently, and felt his gaze adoring her. 

“Have you come, darling?” He had asked, breathlessly. She hadn’t. “We can’t have that?”

Distracting her with another kiss, his hand drifted between them, touching her just where she needed. He had kissed her through her ecstasy, until it was almost too much. 

Quickening his pace, he had chased after her, spilling inside and making her feel strangely whole. And after all of it, he had stayed, cradling Rey to his chest.

“I never understood what Ren saw in you,” Hux had said later, as he lightly brushed Rey’s hair. “I thought he was mad.”

Rey had been too sated to argue much. She had probably been too drunk, also, if she was being honest.

“Maybe you’re mad,” Rey had said, feeling bold. Somehow, it had made Hux laugh.

“Maybe I am. Perhaps you’ve worked your Jedi magic on me.”

“It’s not magic. It’s just...feeling.” Rey had tried to find the right words, but it was difficult to explain the Force to someone who had never experienced it.

“I’ve felt it,” Hux had said, sounding suddenly serious.

“What do you mean?” Rey had asked, sitting up.

“Snoke. And Ren,” Hux had said bitterly, and suddenly Rey understood. She must have looked terribly sad for him then. “Darling, don’t think on it.” Sitting up, Hux had run his hand along her thigh, his eyes suddenly shiny and focused. Another long, deep kiss passed between them, before he had asked her to lie back again.

“Why?” Rey had asked, as he gently parted her legs.

“To forget,” he had said with a wicked grin before kissing the inside of her thigh. “I don’t want you to think of anything but me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A nice ending to this chapter. That means you better prepare for the suck in the next.


End file.
